Ain't No Sunshine
by wolverinacullen
Summary: Sequel to Slow Ride-When the past comes back, can Jonathan, Mina and Dracula handle reliving it all over again?
1. Preface

**Ain't No Sunshine**

**Preface**

My story with Jonathan Harker began in 1887, in Transylvania, Romania. I'd stopped my brides from killing him, then carried him back to his temporary room. He'd been afraid, and I'd been kind, and somehow, a love had kindled between us. I'd left for England shortly thereafter, leaving him in the castle. He'd had to escape the brides by risking his life. When he returned to England, he had told me we could be no more. I'd gone to Mina in desperation, as our love was very strong. We'd had an affair, but I felt nothing for her. I'd told her about us. She felt something too, and hadn't wanted to follow Van Helsing into battle, but they did anyway, because they simply _couldn't_. I had never truely died. That was all Jonathan had known about our time together, he'd never truely known I was in the shadows his entire life, nor did I want to tell him what he'd truely become.  
Shortly after my "death", my cousin-by-marriage, Elizabeth Bathory, came to me in my weakened state. She revealed to me she too was immortal, and though she had embraced who she was, despite society's words, she would always come to my aid when I needed it. Months later, Mina had sent for me. She was pregnant, and since her encounter with Jonathan was far later than my own, the child was mine. Jonathan knew, and their marriage quickly fell apart. I returned to London to aid Mina. Jonathan saw the accidental child as a betrayal, and had thrown himself into work and alcohol. Shortly after Quincey was born, Mina placed him in my care, feeling he would be safer with me than with his family in London. Elizabeth returned, and hearing about my son, she poisoned Jonathan. She didn't know she'd poisoned Mina as well. After their deaths, I renounced her from my clan, and raised Quincey on my own. We'd searched for years for the reincarnations of Jonathan and Mina. Twenty years before I'd found them, Quincey had left to embrace his own life in the theatre. I had no objections, what little normalcy he could have, I would allow him. I have not seen him sense, but I had never expected after Jonathan's arrival into the world of the Undead, to find what I had found.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

My head spun. I wanted to cry.  
"Jon..." my voice was a harsh rasp.  
"Well, good morning sunshine." The voice hurt my head. It was female, not high pitched, but it hurt my head anyway. My eyes cracked open slowly. The haze in front of my eyes cleared, but no one was there. Not Jon, not Dracula, nobody. Slowly, I lifted my aching body off the cement, looking around.  
My knee was seized, and I turned around. A red mist clouded the air behind me. I took off, wind whipping against my ears, but the mist stayed on my trail. A loud, inhuman screech made me turn, and a gargoyle charged from the mist, throwing me into the wall of a building nearby.  
_**!  
**_When my eyes opened the next time, I was underground. I felt it, I heard it. There was water trickling around the room. I looked to the pale, harmed shape in the room. He had torn clothing, and he had deep, open wounds. I inched closer to him.  
"Hello" I whispered to him. I brushed the long, brown hair from his face. He was out cold, his face so pale it was almost bloodless. I checked his pulse, and could barely feel it. I lifted his head.  
Dark brown eyes snapped open, and he looked panicked.  
"No no it's okay. It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you" I whispered.  
His face contorted in pain and he weakly clutched his other arm. I noticed the way his shoulder protruded in the front, "It was dislocated?"  
He nodded, "Who are you?"  
"Mina...I mean, Mika. I can help you, if you can sit up." I whispered to him, soothingly touching his arm.  
"Too weak" he said quietly.  
"Where are we? What is this place?" I asked him.  
"I don't know where we are, but this is wherever the Countess keeps us." His face was full of pain as he sat up against the wall. I took ahold of his arm, and looked at him, "Can I help?"  
"Make it fast" he said through gritted teeth. I shoved, and he cried out. His shoulder popped back into place, a few tears coming down his face.  
"Who's this countess?" I asked.  
He looked into my eyes, "Surely you know, considering you're here. Countess Elizabeth Bathory. She's a vampire. She opposes my father."  
"Your father?" I asked, in disbelief, "A vampire? Does that mean I'm-?"  
He looked at me, "You were probably turned by her, if not by the one who left that scar on your throat. You are now, by the looks of it." He tried to stand and slid back down against the wall. He closed his eyes and said, "My father...Dracula." His eyes slowly opened again, sadness painting them, "My name is Quincey. Quincey Harker."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Jonathan smirked over the back of the couch, "You are so beautiful."  
I laughed, "You are so naieve." I pulled him over the back of the couch, into my arms. He laughed, biting at my lip. I growled at him, low in my throat.  
He smiled as the mail was delivered outside. It had been months since our life together had begun, and we'd moved from our apartment into this small, but luxurious house in the suburbs. As usual, I rose to collect it. Jonathan leaned over the back of the couch, a playful smile on his eternally innocent face. There was little, but a letter to me. It smelled of fresh, familiar blood. _Mina._ I ripped open the wax seal before Jonathan was totally up, and lifted the slighly blurred letters to see. Instantly, I knew who had done this. I dropped the letter onto the table and went to collect my coat.  
"Vlad? What's wrong?" Jonathan asked.  
"Lock up the house, stay here. Mina is alive, and she will have to come back with me."  
"Come back? From where?" he asked.  
"Read the letter" I said. I looked to his worried, beautiful face, and the frown that touched his full lips. He took a few steps toward me, finally noticing the scent of the letter.  
"She's hurt...she's a vampire" he said quietly.  
"Yes" I said, taking him into my arms, "She will be safe with us Jonathan..." I stroked the soft curve of his lower lip. His lips parted before softly pressing a kiss to my finger, "Be careful."  
I lowered my face to his, brushing my lips over his, drawing out a whine of anticipation from him before leaving him with a long, loving kiss. "I will be fine my love. I shall be home soon."  
His eyelids fluttered, "I'll be waiting." A satisfied smile spread across his lips, and as I left, I watched him close the locks after me, just as I'd said.  
**_!_**  
The scent of blood was my greeting inside the tomb. I only had to decend the stairs to see Mina crumpled in the corner, her body curled into...no..  
"Quincey" I said, going to him. I lifted my son into the crook of my arm, "Quincey! Wake! Speak!"  
His eyes fluttered, and his lips parted to reveal his fangs. His eyes took a moment to focus, "Father..."  
Relief flooded through me as I embraced him, holding his thin body in one arm alone. I looked to Mina, and whispered, "Don't fear Quincey. You will be safe now. As will your mother."  
His eyes filled with tears, "She is my mother? I thought so."  
Barely letting him stand, I held Mina in my other arm. Quincey fell asleep before he had the chance to reach the car. I glanced over my shoulder, sensing. The gargoyles on the roof of the church looked too much like her; perhaps they would.  
_**!**_  
The moment I returned home, I noticed Jonathan had left. Quite possibly to prepare for their arrival. While Mina chose to harness the last of her strength and bathe, Quincey latched onto my wrist like he was a baby, and drank deeply. His weakened state needed to be improved, though I was sure he would need to feed much more than what I had in my veins.  
Mina stumbled out, wrapped in my robe. It hung off her in rivers, a sickly glow to her skin. I held out my other wrist for her, and she hurriedly dropped near me. Her fangs sunk into my veins with ease. I lifted her into my grasp, her wet hair leaving a wet place against my shirt as I fed her.  
"Vlad?"  
I glanced up, smiling at Jonathan, "She is alright, love." I glanced to Quincey, who released my wrist and lay back on the bed, his eyes heavy, "I'll explain later."  
Jonathan nodded and came to our side. Mina looked to him, her mouth latched to my wrist. His fingers brushed softly through her hair, and she leaned back into me. I knew behind her feeding, she was smiling.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I returned to see Vlad feeding Mina and a guy about my age from his wrists. My eyes locked with his for a moment. I looked to the boy as he let go and fell asleep, and Mina drinking greedily from him. I didn't know why, but it pissed me off. I left the room, going to sit on the stairs until he was ready to find me.  
Not too long passed before I felt his arms wrap around me and pull me onto his lap like he'd held Mina, "What troubles you love? Talk to me." His lips, gently ghosting over my neck, caused a moan I didn't want to surface. I felt him smile as his lips pressed tenderly to my vein, "Jonathan, speak to me."  
I turned. The ashen pallor of his face surprised me, so much so I forgot my anger and took him into my arms, "Are you okay?"  
He smiled and rested his head against my shoulder appreciatively, "Weakened, and exhausted. Mina and Quincey fed practically every drop from me."  
"Quincey Morris?" I found myself asking.  
He smiled, "My son, Quincey. You chose the name, though I'm sure you don't remember. Quincey Nicolae Harker."  
I smiled, "No, I don't remember. I'm sure there's a lot I don't remember." I was shocked at his lightness as I scooped him in my arms much like he did to me on a near-constant basis. I carried him down the hall to our bedroom and rested him softly among the pillows. His eyes locked with mine as he whispered, "Thank you."  
I silently lay a finger across his lips and went downstairs to get him stock blood, things from the blood bank I'd 'acquired' when he'd went to get Mina. It's funny...I can no longer call her Mika anymore when I know her true name to be Mina. I returned to him with his nourishment in tow, warmed in the microwave. His eyes were closed, exhaustion setting in. I gently tilted his face, so his parted lips were closer to me. His eyes fluttered open, and a smile graced his face before he closed them again, putting his whole being in my care. I loved, and will always love, how deeply our trust had blossomed to. Slowly, a little bit at a time, I wetted his tongue with the lush, sweet scented blood. He drank, his eyes fluttering as if to blink in a type of ecstacy I knew myself. There was nothing greater than blood in a weakened state. He moaned as he finished the glass, his hand touching mine. His lips were reddened with the precious liquid, though his words broke my hungry trance, "Jonathan, I am afraid."  
"Why?" I asked him, my fingers so gingerly stroking back the soft, smooth locks of his raven hair from his face.  
He opened his lucious dark brown eyes to me, "Quincey has been severely deprived. Not just recently, as Mina has, but for quite some time. His body has poisoned itself. Mina shall recover quickly, but I fear for Quincey's very life."  
A long time ago, we'd made a promise to each other to never hide anything, and I was glad he shared all confidence with me. "We'll do whatever it takes my love, he'll be okay. It may take time, but he'll survive, he'll be a healthy, happy boy again."  
"The things he's endured that I've seen in his dreams, I doubt he'll ever be entirely happy. What Elizabeth has done to him will leave perminant scars, in every way possible" he said to me, "But we can try to help him recover as best he can."  
"Who's Elizabeth?" I asked, setting down his glass. I did as I usually did, settling in near him in bed, my arms wrapped tightly around him. He made a soft, quiet whine, his eyes closing, "Elizabeth is my cousin by marriage. Once, when we were young and human...we were the closest of friends. Practically true family. She stayed with me many summers, and many winters too. She was a sweet, gentle, good person, but she never acted like a woman." He smiled. "Elizabeth and I had more in common than familial ties or the palace we lived in. She and I were practically cut from the same cloth. For a long time, we both had deep rooted interest in the fairer sex, until I knew there were fair, beautiful boys, such as youself."  
My cheeks flamed, "So you were both...into both?"  
"No. Elizabeth was married off young, and never had a chance to explore her true interests. He was a cruel man, and I don't blame her for coming to hate the more masculine. She fled, and fell in love with a serving girl at her aunt's. When her aunt found out, she had the girl hanged for theivery. Elizabeth has been cruel and bitter ever since, but when Van Helsing tried to kill me, she appeared nearly from the woodwork to care for me. She nursed me back to health."  
"You never died?" I was genuinely shocked. "You told me-"  
"I apolgize for the lie Jonathan...but that was how she healed me. She brought soldiers from war to make sure I was always well fed. There were very few things desperate men wouldn't do for the company of a beautiful woman such as her" he said quietly, "I couldn't die, not with Quincey to be born. I knew from the day I was going to be killed Quincey was in his mother's womb."  
I held him, nuzzling his cheek gently to soothe his worries, "It's okay, don't worry yourself." I thought of a new topic to move onto, "If you'd found out your sexuality, why did you have brides?"  
His smile was a touch sentimental, "Marishka, Allera and Verona were my closest of friends, nearly my sisters. We loved each other dearly. Even if I could never lust for them, I loved them so deeply I couldn't resist their pleas for immortality. If you had no love, wouldn't you spend forever with your friends and family?"  
I began to stroke his hair, "Yeah. I would."  
"Elizabeth, my girls, Mina, even Lucy Westenra, they were, and in Mina's case are, dear girls whom I loved very deeply...for other reasons than a physical longing."  
"Lucy?" I asked.  
"I never harmed Lucy, I hope you know. I brought no harm to anyone. But none of them would've seen it any differently" he said, quietly. I noticed the changes in his breath, the way his eyes were threatening to fall shut. Dawn was approaching. I softly lay a kiss to his soft, scarlet lips, "Sleep, we'll talk more tonight. We have forever." I settled down beside him, as comfortable as an old married couple, and stroked his soft raven hair.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Elizabeth's fingers stroked through Sonya's cascading blond hair. Anistasia had her fangs in Elizabeth's neck, while she held both of her white-clad lovers.  
Sonya let out a keening groan, "When will the boy come back to us?"  
"Soon my darling, soon" Elizabeth murmured to her, brushing a fingertip over her crimson stained lips.  
Anistasia withdrew her fangs and kissed the wound she'd created, "He doesn't taste as divine as you My Queen."  
Sonya growled posessively, and only Elizabeth's hands stroking reassuringly over the girls' backs could soothe the rivalry burning between them, "Quiet girls, soon all will be as it's been."  
**_!  
_**There was no light above me when I opened my eyes. Mother was asleep on the bed beside me. Mother...I'd given up every hope of seeing her again. How long had it been? Fifteen years...that was how long.  
"Quincey."  
I turned in bed to see my father, his intense gaze fixed upon the still-mending gashes. His walk was slow as he entered the room, "Do you feel well enough to stand?"  
I nodded, lifting myself up with some effort. He supported me as I limped with him to the bathroom across the hall. He released my torso and looked to me, "Show me the wounds Quincey."  
Shame coursed through my blood. I was supposed to be a man, but I couldn't fight off the three women. I couldn't meet his eyes as I slowly removed my shirt, then my dirty, tattered pants. The letter my mother had written shortly before her first death tumbled from the pocket. His eyes hardened with a cruelty I'd never seen in my life. I was afraid, not of him, but of what he'd think. He guided me to the bath and said quietly, "Clean them, before they become infected."  
My eyes stayed away from my father's face as he saw the marks. He grasped my arm firmly as I tried to cover the rest of myself. I knew what he saw. Every part of me that I should've never let them touch, was marked with rough looking scars and still-red puncture marks. He lifted my wrists. Though there were a scattered few on the rest of my body, my wrists, neck and my most intimate area were marked with scars and open bites. I saw his hands shake with rage.  
"Quincey...why didn't you tell me?" his voice betray the pain of a father unable to protect his son.  
Hot tears stung scratches on my cheeks, "You'd think me less a man...knowing I was unable to fight a woman."  
He quickly had me look at him, "That is the single most foolish thing I have ever heard. You are my son. The things these..." he struggled to find a suitible word, and I knew many, all of them fit, but none were good enough.  
"Please father...enough" I whispered, "You know what happened. They starved me, and when I was weak, they did this in feeding."  
"Do not defend them" he said. His voice was hard. I refused to look at the cruelty in his eyes, trying to maintain the last ounce of dignity I had.  
"Did they...?" he seemed to choke on the words, as I choked back a sob. I tried to push away, but found that the sound was all he'd needed to hear. He enveloped me in the same warm hug I knew from my childhood. Every time I had a nightmare, this was what comforted me. It brought no solace from the pain spreading through my blood.  
"Quincey, I'm so sorry" he said. I heard the tears in his voice, felt them warm and wet on the scars on my shoulders. I shook and sobbed, clinging to my father like a child. I longed to be a little boy again. I longed to only know the monsters of my nightmares, not what a monster in a woman's form could do to me. For the longest time, my father held me, and we cried. I knew the rage that burned within him, rage for revenge. It was everything I felt the first year, but after that, my life force itself...had left me. He brought me into warm, soothing water, treating me like a baby. No words were exchanged; no words could express the pain I felt, or the fury, or the shame.  
"How do you feel?" he asked me, once I was clean and dry, with my wounds dressed and fresh clothes on my body.  
"Better" I said. "When did you find mother? And Jonathan?"  
"Not long ago" he replied. He was back before I knew he'd left me, with warm...oh god.  
"Blood" I whispered, my eyes filling with tears of joy. It had been the longest time since I'd fed last. I grasped the warmed stonewear mug eagerly and drank, so quickly I only knew the sweet, rich aftertaste of the precious life-giving liquid that had just sent a surge of warmth through my chilled soul.  
He smiled gently, taking it from my hand, "I will feed you until you hunger no more Quincey, you know that. Whatever it takes."  
I nodded, "Thank you."  
I sat back down in bed, next to my mother, and awaited the joy that had become nourishment.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

It took me about ten minutes to get set and head out after Vlad told me to go get more stock for Quincey. I knew he loved his son, and I'd do anything for him too. He'd named his son after my friend, and given him my last name. That was devotion, to me and him both. I rounded the corner near the hospital, and my body tensed.  
The young woman before me had a cigarette between her ruby lips. A long, patent leather trench covered her clothes, but they were open. Hip riding black leather pants, and a lace and silk black shirt. If I hadn't known the love Vlad gave me, I would've been seriously interested. She had the same raven hair like him, but her eyes were piercing, so blue they were almost silver.  
"Jonathan Harker" she said.  
I slowed and paused, instead of freezing, like I would've when I was human. "Who wants to know?"  
"A woman with knowledge" she said. She got off the wall and put out her cigarette on the brick, "I'm assuming you know Quincey Harker?"  
"Yeah" I said, shifting. She would be able to see the way Vlad had changed my body, the lean muscle turned to strength, my endurance was up, my speed and my agility. I could take anything she could throw at me.  
"Then you know he's not your son."  
"I'd be stupid if I thought otherwise."  
"Do you know who his mother is?"  
"Does it matter?"  
Her eyes narrowed. She stepped back, "I didn't know you regained yourself so quickly."  
My lips curled into a cruel smile, "Then you shouldn't have underestimated me."  
Her jaw clenched, "So I assume you've forgiven Mina then? She knew he was yours, and she still had him, and their baby."  
My body locked. What? She...was Quincey's mother? She was our son's mother? A snarl erupted from me, "Leave. Before I do something I won't regret."  
She turned and left swiftly, and my whole self trembled. I broke into the hospital's freezer through the back, loading my bag entirely full with blood. I knew there was more than enough, and it would all go bad in time. They could thank me...my anger was coming through, in every way. Quickly, I left again, back to my home that didn't feel like mine anymore.  
When I went back inside, Mina was laying across a stair, her hair waving down around her face. She perked up as I entered, "Jonathan?"  
I paused. I wasn't sure if this changed anything. I'd known in my last life...I glanced up to her, "Yes Mina?"  
"Thank you. Quincey is much healthier now that he's gorged himself." A familiar, small smile was on her lips. I knew that smile. I hated it. She smiled at my Vlad like that, and probably at my son. Quincey came down the stairs in his father's clothes, hopping over Mina. He looked to me. I went to him.  
"Quincey." He gave me an expectant glance, just like his father. I couldn't help but crack a smile and give him a hug, "Welcome home."  
Mina looked at me with open shock. I knew she hadn't expected that. What she probably also didn't expect, was though I loved her son, I could never forgive what she'd done.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Honestly, I'd developed anxiety attacks. Not full blown panic, but anxiety. All I could think was, it's most likely a product of age. Most fourty year old fathers end up with panic attacks, why can't a six hundred year old one? Quincey was asleep, but that didn't stop Mina from keeping vigil most of the time, either on the stairs near his bedroom or next to him. Tonight, we both sat on the stairs while Jonathan was just waking up, going through his usual nightly crankyness. She was constantly moving her finger around the rim of the teacup, her eyes flicking with equal anxiety to Quincey's door every few moments. Finally, when I could bear the tension no longer, my hand closed over hers, "Please Mina, stop." I noticed the way my voice held desperation.  
Her fingers slid between mine, "I'm sorry Vladimir. I'm just so nervous...it's like an ache in my chest."  
"I know" I answered. I'd felt this feeling many times, in changing my girls, beloved Lucy, and when Mina herself carried Quincey.  
"You know I loved you once" I finally murmured, "You, Lucy, and my friends at home. I tried for four hundred years to deny what I felt. I tried even after I fell in love with Jonathan and he with me." I remembered the tightness in my chest with Jonathan in danger, that day when Van Helsing's foolish plan could've gotten him killed.  
"I've always known. Don't worry Vlad, Jonathan still loves you beyond all else. Nothing will ever come between you two" she said, placing her teacup on the stair beside her and running her free hand over my own quite soothingly. I sighed, closing my eyes, "May I confide in you?"  
"Always" she soothed.  
"I loved one woman in my entire lifetime. But for several reasons, we were never meant to be" I told her.  
"The woman you were to be married to before the war?" she asked.  
"No...you see, my uncle married a noblewoman, a Bathory. She already had a daughter, Elizabeth. We grew up together. We matured together, and naturally after being with her for so long, I was deeply in love with her" I explained. I pushed the memories from my mind. The childhood of innocence alone sparked the memories of the burning passion we shared, not just for each other, but for life.  
"The woman who captured us" she said quietly.  
"Yes. Elizabeth and I...I believed in us. We'd...had relations, when I was young. But then, she realized she'd rather have female lovers than me. As gently as she could, she broke my heart. Equally, I believe, I'd broken hers. Shortly thereafter, she found me...in a rather compromising position with my latest infatuation." I had the grace to blush, "He was a schoolteacher from the villiage. He was elegant, and wonderous, and...quite skilled." My lips curved into a smile. "If I hadn't been able to rely on her, she would've surely sold me out."  
"What would that have meant?" she asked.  
"In that time? Exilement, at least. I would've never had power. That was the most lenient punishment, that typically nobility was only allowed to. At the farthest...being put to death for breaking the law of God, as according to the Bible" I told her.  
"Did she?"  
"Never. Elizabeth loved me with all of her heart still, in a different way. She would never speak of myself or my lover to anyone." I allowed my eyes to open, "The love I hold in my heart for Jonathan is the equivilant of what I felt at that time in my life. He brings the youth back to me. I feel...strong. Worthy. Like a prince again."  
She smiled, "He does that to you." She leaned in, softly pressing her lips to my cheek. "I'm sorry Vladimir, but I can never forgive Elizabeth for what she's done to our son."  
I glanced to her, "I have not spoken with her in years, not since before Quincey's birth. She cared for me after Van Helsing tried to kill me, but when the news reached me of your pregnancy...I left. You knew I could not trust her near my son, for good reason."  
Mina rubbed my hands, "And you were right."  
I slowly exhaled a breath, "You must vow to me never to reveal to Jonathan what I will tell you now."  
She nodded, looking into my eyes expectantly.  
"Elizabeth killed you and Jonathan the first time. She had no idea Quincey was in my care, and she believed you were with child...she thought she could destroy Quincey and protect me. From what, I have no idea, but that was what she told me the last time we spoke. My abandonment was the last time we'd spoke...civilly."  
Her eyes widened, "She killed us for bearing your son?"  
"She never planned to kill Jonathan, but after she saw what he'd become, she did anyway. I will never forgive her for that Mina. I am not justifying her actions, nor am I supporting them. I'm telling you that though I love her, she is an unforgivable creature. Not soly for what she's done to you and my love, but for what she and her lovers have done to our son."  
"They starved and weakened me too, Vladimir. Quincey will be fine, I assure you" she said, standing.  
I stood as well, and lead her downstairs, "I assume you fought them."  
"Every time" she said.  
"Quincey was in their captivity much longer Mina" I tried to break the news to her as gently as possible. Even as a modern woman and a vampire, she was still gentle and fair, "Elizabeth's lovers weren't soly devoted to her. Once Quincey's will broke..." The tightness in my chest moved to my throat, stoping the words from leaving. Her eyes betrayed panic. I held her trembling hands as I told her, "They raped him Mina. In his weakened state, he couldn't fight back. They had full control over him."  
Her resolve broke instantly. She fell into me, crying with abandon. I wrapped my arms around her, hearing the pleas that echoed in my heart. How didn't we know? Why hadn't we been able to stop them? She didn't blame me, but I knew damned well this was my fault. I'd let this happen to my son.  
"I...I need...a moment" she said. She pushed me away. I nodded, "You know where I'll be."  
Quincey was tucked in his bed, the peace of a child on his face as he slept. Slowly, I stroked his face, so not to wake him. Innocence ebbed from him like an aura. Gently, like his mother, I pressed the softest of kisses to his forehead.  
"Rest, my sweet child. I'll be here to keep the monsters away" I told him, like I had when he was a boy.  
I glanced up, seeing Jonathan clad in his sleepclothes. He leaned on the door and said softly, "We need to talk."


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

I followed him away from Quincey, back to our room. He sat down on our bed, an unusual look of uncertianty drawing his lips into a frown. When his lip began to tremble, I quickly sat near him, as close as I could possibly get, my arms wrapping around him, "Talk to me love, what troubles you?"  
Tears openly streamed down his delicate face, "Are you...going to leave me...for Mina?"  
"What could ever make you think such a fool thing? Jonathan, you know you are my everything" I cooed to him, pulling him against my chest.  
"But Quincey is here...and you have Mina back. You don't need me. You can be happy, and you can have a family..." he sobbed. His crying was heartbreaking. Gently, I lay him back and kissed his delicate, precious face from temple to jaw.  
"Jonathan, please listen to me. You're breaking my heart love. You know my feelings, you know how deeply they run. If you do not believe me, everything I've done for you has been in vain" I murmured, cradling him closely.  
"She said you were" he murmured.  
My head snapped up, "Who? Mina?"  
He wiped his eyes, "No. I probably shouldn't have listened...but I met this vampire girl when I went to get blood for Quincey...I've been keeping in touch with her, since it seemed like she knew...everything. She told me you were leaving me for Mina."  
"Who? Jonathan you must tell me who?" I gasped, the anxiety turning into fury-laced panic.  
"I don't know. She was about Mina's height...black hair, blue eyes?" he said, "She looked like your long lost sister or something."  
A pang of rage hit me square in the chest. I took off to Quincey's room. The tension eased when my son was safely in bed, but picked up as I saw the fading of a crimson mist from the lawn.  
"Mina?" I shouted, and took off down the stairs, "MINA!" I burst out the door, but she was nowhere to be seen, nor was Elizabeth's mist form. I returned inside, looking to Jonathan. His eyes were wide, his cheeks wet, and his body tensed to strike.  
"She's gone" I said, horror in my voice. We'd have no time. The sky was already changing shades of blue. Soon, dawn would return. Contrary to popular belief, we could go out in the day, but to leave Quincey in his weakened state with Elizabeth and her lovers on the prowl, or risk bringing him along before his health was restored, it was not a risk I was willing to take. My jaw was set, my anger palpable. Jonathan went to me, his arms wrapping tightly around me as he whispered, "It's okay-"  
"No it is most certianly NOT okay. I've failed again" I said, sinking back into the railing. My heart was full of rage, full of vengence, but I could not act upon it until my son was able to join us. "God help Mina..."  
Jonathan actually laughed, "Mina doesn't need God's help. I'd like to see this Bathory chick try again. Mina knows what she's dealing with, and in this life, she actually beat me up in the fifth grade. She can handle herself."  
I shook my head, trying to disperse the rather pleasant images of Mina beating some sense into Elizabeth, "That's what I'm afraid of." A smile curved my lips before I could hold it in.  
Jonathan's soft lips pressed to mine. A soft, sweet kiss, with absolutely no urgency, yet the spark of anger within me changed. The flames of passion ignited, engulfing what was left of my rational mind that hadn't completely shut down from the stress and the constant effort to make everything alright. I wrapped Jonathan in my arms, parting the seam of his lips with my tongue. He moaned, so wantonly I couldn't help but grasp his hips and reverse our positions. His back to the railing, my hips bumped against his, slow grinding and hot friction building between us. He shoved me back with all his strength. I stumbled back into our room, confused, until I saw how dark his eyes had gotten. He charged, in one swift move shutting the door and tackling me to the bed with such force the legs buckled below us.  
A low chuckle escaped my throat, almost a growl, "You just have to burn off my steam every time, don't you?"  
He smirked, leaning in to ghost his lips over mine, "You know what I do to you. You know you love it."  
I growled at him, gripping him and flipping us, so he was on his back under me, "I love you." My fangs elongated and I sunk them into the swell of his throat. He cried out in ecstacy, his chest arching against mine. One of the best parts of being a vampire, was the near instant satisfaction. I locked our minds, making love to him in his thoughts, bringing forth the fantasy while satisfying his body. After slowly licking his wound clean, he fed from me. The softness of his mouth and his bite added with the gentle roaming of his hands across my back. Jonathan eased the tension in me with only a few touches. The peak of ecstacy for us was far greater than that of humans, even when we did not make love physically.  
"Soon, Jonathan" I murmured to him as he pressed soft kisses to the wound he'd created.  
"I know" he murmured, his beautiful eyes seeming to pierce into my very soul, "I love you. And I promise, whatever you need me to do...I'll do for you."


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Mina's head throbbed as she woke. A bump smacked her against the underside of a velvet seat, and a leg. "Awake now, are we?" Bathory cooed to her, touching her hair.  
Mina jolted, scrambling away from her onto the seat across from her, "W-What do you want?"  
"Well, we did want Quincey...but my girls thought it over and thought you were much more fun" Bathory answered with a smirk. Her hand closed around Mina's wrist, "Come now, greet me like a good girl."  
Mina's eyes widened in fear as she was pulled into Bathory's grip like a rag doll, her body becoming heavy with paraylsis under her gaze. She whimpered and said, "A-Are you going to kill me?"  
"Of course not Mina...after all, I could want more from you than this." Smirking, Bathory sunk her fangs into Mina's throat.  
**_!_**  
"Quincey?" I asked quietly.  
He looked back to me, "Jonathan. I didn't hear you come in."  
"I'd like to talk with you, if that's okay" I said quietly.  
He moved aside, allowing me some space on the window seat, "Sure."  
"I...don't remember much about my life...before this one. But I heard things I didn't want to hear. I'm sorry about who I was Quincey. Back then, I wasn't who I am now. Now I want you to be as much of family to me as you are to Vlad. I love him Quincey, and I'd do anything for him, that means I'd do anything for you, because even if you're his son with Mina...you're still his son, and I love you too."  
A little color flushed Quincey's cheeks, and his lips pulled up at the corner, "Thank you Jonathan. My father really deserves someone like you. But let me tell you now, if you break his heart again, I will break you in two." He grinned at me, and I grinned back, "I'd give you a free shot."  
I turned, not expecting to see Vlad. When I did, I jumped and fell back into the window, "Jesus! You scared me!"  
He wore a sentimental smile, "My apolgies Jonathan. I just never expected to see this."  
Quincey smiled, equally as beautiful, "Jonathan and I being civil or my smile?"  
"Both" he replied. He went to Quincey's side, wrapping his son in a tight hug, "I'm so happy to see this again."  
For a moment, it really seemed like everything would be alright. Then, Vlad fell, clutching his head.  
"Vladimir!" I said with a gasp, going to him. He held his head, clenching his teeth. I pulled him into my arms, wrapping him tight against me, stroking his hair, "What's wrong? What can I do?"  
He let out a hiss between his teeth, "Mina..."  
"You're still connected to her?" I gasped.  
He looked into my eyes, "Through Quincey."  
Quincey looked sheepish as he said, "I fed from them both. I suppose it was the catalyst."  
I stroked Vlad's hair slowly, savoring the feeling, whispering to him, "What's going on?"  
"They're torturing her. Feeding from her. They have no interest in her body, just her blood" he said. I knew without a doubt in my mind he was feeling all of her pain. Quincey knelt down beside him and placed his hands on Vlad's shoulders, "Father, just pull yourself away from her."  
"No" he said quietly, "I need to know-"  
"I know where they are" Quincey said, "Please, pull away."  
I sensed unease as Vlad's hands slid away, and he opened his eyes. Regret laced his voice as he said, "I did. I...couldn't bear it any longer."  
I kissed his forehead gently, brushing his hair away from his face, "It's alright." My attention returned to Quincey, "You know where they are?"  
"Yes. I'm intimately familiar with the location" he said. He talked so much like his father. With my arm wrapped tightly around Vlad's waist, I said to him, "We should go in the morning...right?"  
Vlad nodded, "Yes. When they have their guard down, we will strike."  
Quincey looked between us, "Do you two have longswords? Daggers? Anything that can stop her?"  
"I have the katana we aquired in Hiroshima after the Second World War, yes. Quincey Morris's Kurkuri knife, that was formerly embedded in my chest" he shot me a glance, and I blushed, "You two can use them. I will handle Elizabeth as she is meant to be, with my own skills, at my own hand."  
Quincey nodded. My heart skipped a beat, "No. No you can't face her without a weapon. What if she...No!"  
He grasped my face, so I could see nothing but the world inside his eyes, the heart and soul of him. My eyes brimmed with tears, "If something happens to you, I will die. You can't leave me like that. Gamble with my life, not with yours."  
A few spilled down my face, his eyes following their trail before they returned to my face. His eyes softened and he murmured, "Jonathan, my love, the last thing I will ever do is harm you in any way." He kissed me, with a mix of passion and gentleness. It reminded me of the kiss on my deathbed. Oh Vlad...I do love thee, and I will never let thee go, ever again. You just don't know that I mean it yet.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Slowly, Mina's eyes opened. Pain shot through her skull. She was too weak to move. She opened her eyes gingerly, gazing up at Bathory and her ladies. They drank from wine glasses, that after a moment Mina realized, was her blood.  
My eyes scanned the horizon as father drove through the winding streets. "There" I said, my voice hardly above a choked whisper, but he turned down the path. My chest tightened instinctively as we drove into Saint Casmir's Catholic Cemetary. My senses felt heightened as we grew closer to the tomb she'd held me in, the tomb she'd be holding my mother in. A tremor shot down my spine, shaking me to my fingertips. Jonathan's hand closed over mine, a silent reassurance. I nodded in thanks to him. No words could pass between us; I had absolutely nothing to say...  
"Quincey" father spoke, breaking the silence, "Where?"  
"Two more rows in. It's says Jonas. It's inside a hill" I said. My fingers locked around the Kukuri knife my father armed me with, the tip of my thumb tracing the base of the blade.  
"Don't be afraid Quincey" Jonathan whispered. He stroked his thumb over two of my fingers, and I released a breath, "You have no idea what that was like. I have every reason to be afraid, it's the entire principle of chivalry over cowardace that brings me here and keeps me from running back the way we've come to get away from her."  
Jonathan drew the katana from its sheath, "We'll handle this. I promise."  
The closer we got, the deeper anger I felt. Slowly, my fear melted away, replaced by a rage-induced bravery. I grasped the hilt of the knife until I felt the initials carved in the handle pressing into my palm.  
The first moment we pulled up, father sprung free of the car, followed by Jonathan and I. I smelled Mina-mother's-blood and despite the memories hitting me tenfold, I saw red.  
A battle cry erupted from both my father and I. Her ladies seemed surprised, but quickly Anistasia moved to counter me. Mina lay on the floor while Jonathan covered her, fighting. I saw father and Bathory become blurs as they fought, as quickly as I countered.  
She cut my face from my temple to my cheek with her claw-like nails. I slashed at her, the blade barely slashing into her cheek. She danced around me. Lunge, parry, thrust, repeat. It seemed like a fencing match neither of us would lose.  
A sickening crack, a deafening scream, and in her moment of distraction, I plunged the blade into her stomach and dragged it upward; a hot knife through butter. The body of the other woman was at Jonathan's feet, and Bathory was in my uncle's clutches. She cried, grasping at his hands, sinking to the floor in his arms. Her spirit wasn't broken, but for the moment, her soul was crushed. I went toward her, prepared to deliver the death blow, but father was petting her hair.  
"Quincey, stop" he said, sensing my thoughts.  
"No, I have to do this. I have to end this, right here, right now!" I shouted. The blade, clutched between my fingers, sliced into my thumb as I held the hilt.  
Jonathan stepped forward from the rapidly deteriorating body of the woman he killed and said, "Don't, she doesn't deserve your mercy Quincey."  
Momentarily thrown off, I glanced to him.  
"If you kill her now, she'll win. You will have shown her mercy for what she did to you. Letting her live with the knowledge we won and killed her lovers, that will make her suffer."  
She didn't stop crying at the mention of Jonathan's words. The monster I knew was no more. I wasn't scared anymore, but I was not a monster like her. I made the swift lunge for Jonathan's sword, and quickly, I killed her.  
**_!_**  
Laughter echoed from the garden party downstairs. The neighbors had come up from town to see the huge, brand new mansion we'd moved into. Mina and Jonathan danced beautifully together, the closeness of old friends. I leaned out the balcony under the setting sun.  
"I'm sorry it's taken me so long to forgive you" father said.  
"I couldn't be a monster like her, I'm sorry. Killing her was less suffering on both our parts, I'm free and she's with her lovers." I'd made sure of that, triple-sealing the casket's concrete case, even going so far to have lined the inside of the concrete in three inch thick metal.  
His hand rested on my shoulder lightly, his voice barely above a whisper, "Join us below when you're ready Quincey. I want you to rejoin the world."  
I watched him rejoin them, their smiles and laughter as he pulled Mina into a dance. A young mother sat at one of the garden tables Mina picked out for the party, her young daughter's blond curls shimmering angelically in the remaining sunlight. A smile returned to my face. She raised her eyes to look at me, and broke into a smile. I remembered the innocence of a child...and I went to go rejoin them.


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The darkness of midnight felt beautiful. Jonathan discarded his jacket on the chair, about to unbutton his cuffs when my fingers closed over his collar button, "Allow me."  
He smiled, "I love you."  
My lips slowly traced his jaw, "As deeply as I love you."  
Slowly, I opened each button, one at a time. My fingers stroked his creamy skin as it was revealed. He unbuttoned his cuffs and shrugged his shirt completely off before leaning against my chest. Those eyes gazed into mine, bearing a degree of euphoria that warmed my soul.  
He pressed a soft kiss to my lips, slowly deepening. His fingers tangled in my hair as he turned, clutching, nipping my lower lip. A moan escaped my lips as Jonathan's tongue slipped inside my mouth. He grasped my shirt, gently opening it and stripping it from my body. His fingers tangled in my hair as I slowly swirled my tongue against his, so soft and slow. Gently, our mouths parted. I placed soft kisses down his neck, his fingers pulling and tugging on my hair.  
"God Vlad" he whimpered, his eyes closing, "Please..."  
I rubbed my thigh against the bulge in his pants, listening to the moan escape him. He grasped me and clutched my arms, pulling me on top of him in our bed. His heart was pounding in his chest, his eyes dark and hungry.  
"Take me" he said, barely above a growl.  
"My pleasure" I purred with a smirk.  
I grasped his belt, opening it swiftly and yanking off the remainder of his clothing before he did the same to mine. He smirked, his eyes dancing. The joy in his heart was building, as was mine. Connected by soul, I clutched him and entered him swiftly, our naked bodies feeding off each others' heat.  
"Oh god Vladimir" his breath ghosted over my throat as I made love to him slowly. Our lips connected with tender passion, our bodies responding to each other in such an intimate way; I'd never felt this way before, ever, never before him.  
"Jonathan" I murmured into his ear, "You're the most beautiful thing in the world."  
"Vladimir...I love thee." His beautiful eyes, darkened with desire. His soft, pale face, flushed with heat. The scent of his skin, amplified to my senses. As we reached our peak together, I whispered what I'd been waiting nearly a century to say.  
"I love thee, Jonathan."  
**The End**


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